I attend with a group that rents the pool. Before management changed, I would have rated this business highly. However, finding the lifeguard on their phone instead of watching the pool on numerous occasions has me saying, "Don't trust your kids to these people!" Today I reminded the lifeguard "The pool's over here." She apologized and said she had gotten a text. I DON'T CARE about her text. She has ONE job - to guard the lives of the people in that pool. Management has been notified on several occasions, but this unsafe situation has been allowed to continue. Edit to respond to Chris W. - Your response translates as, "We have no intention of doing anything more than we have already done in response to the feedback that has been offered privately." Emptor Caveat. read more

I was pretty nervous about signing my son up for classes here as all the reviews were horrid. But, they had an easy online scheduler and got back to me right away (both when signing up for my first session and again when I signed him up for my next set of lessons). I didn't hear back from Hood for weeks and all the classes at the Y booked up opening day. In the end, I figured I'd give KIDS FIRST a shot and if it didn't work out, oh well, lesson learned. However, we love it here! My son is only 8 months old, but it was important for me to have some one on one time with him and to grow up to be confident in the water. I will preface this with I don't expect much from a class for kids under 1. He's not joining a swim team anytime soon. All classes were started promptly and his instructor (Shannon) was great and seemed to really enjoy working with the little ones. Each class we do the same order of activities that introduce swimming on their stomachs and back and getting their heads in the water. It can get monotonous for me doing the same thing each week, but my infant loves it and routine is good for them. My main concerns were with reviews that it was cold in there. It is so warm! The pool is at 90 degrees and the temperature in the building is very warm, too. I always leave feeling hot and was refreshed when heading back out into the winter cold after our lessons. The second concern was about it being dim. The observation area is a bit dark, but the pool room, changing rooms, and restrooms are all very well lit. My son always leaves happy, healthy, tired and is excited each time we hop in the pool again. Bonus: if you are signed up with lessons for them you can come to an open "family swim" on Saturdays and Sundays for just $5 per person. read more

I've been searching around the area for swimming lessons for my kids and decided to give this place a shot. I'm surprised that this place got such a low rating! My kids have been coming here since Spring of this year and they have gained so much confidence in swimming. Both of my kids swimming have improved so much compared to where they were last year before classes! Staff has always been great, helpful, and friendly. Instructors are super helpful with the kids. I have no complaints other than I do wish the class ran more than once a week for more practice. read more

First time attempting to use this place to teach my daughter to swim, signed up for the session 4 weeks ago never received an email with the actual classed date start or time. Showed up today because I was under the belief. The class started at 5:30 PM. We get there at 5:20 and lo and behold she was supposed to be in the 5 o'clock class even though her portal didn't say what class she was logged into nor did I receive any email indicating that and they didn't answer the phone when I called them earlier today asked for a refund for the entire session as frankly the coordination is exceptionally lackluster and they refuse a refund, now I am out $140 or I can only come for five sessions instead of my six read more

My children have been attending classes in this pool for more than two years. We never miss a session. We have been in home schooling classes as well as the weekend. All year round they have consistent instructors and they are excellent. In summers due to demand there are more classes available, more instructors get hired, and so far we have been impressed with how careful they choose their hirings. I have seen some not very good ones, but they never stayed at the job and were quickly replaced by true professionals. My kids are not afraid of water and love the fun way of learning to swim. My first son learned how to swim with a pool noodle and climb out of the pool independently when he was just two years old, so we started my second son earlier and he is not even two yet but already can swim under water and floats on his back with a very little support. So I decided to take a minute and thank Kids First Swim School in Frederick by leaving a review. read more

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The coaches don't really show or explain to kids the technic, or correct their posture/position, just tell the kid "Go", swim their own. I don't think the kids are able to walk out of the class even after many years when they are not being taught the real technic or show them how to do it. I guess that is what they want, keep the kids with them for long time, so they can charge parent for the repeated class over and over. 1 or 2 coaches that I noticed did not even seem to pay attention to the kids at all, always looked around, stared at the clock or yarned . Except one or two seem they do care; the rest seem to have no interest or passion in helping kids to advance. After switching to Big Blue swimming school in Germantown, we already feel a big difference. The coaches show passion of teaching , they explain to the kids very detailed instruction and even hold their hands to correct their position . I am very impressed with the way they coach. The facility is new, modern, clean, cheerful and organized. With Kids First Swim School in Scottkey Mall, my kid was asked to repeat lower-level class 3 times even though he is already at intermedium/advanced level, was in a community swimming team. When he was in Big Blue for an assessment, the coach said he is too good to keep him in lower-level class and immediately enroll him to the advanced class for skills/technic improvement. Even my kid mentioned that he did not learn that much from Kids First Swim, and he did not feel they are good coaches. read more

Nobody gets back to you. There is complete discrepancy on moving up in levels between instructors and admin staff.

This is our 4yo's 2nd session. Instructors have changed & havent seen the manager in over a month. instructor doesnt seem very trained & doesnt include many skills in each lesson. will continue somewhere else read more

My 7 year old daughter started her swim instruction with a different KIDS FIRST location several years ago, and continues now here at the Frederick location. She has advanced to Level 6 (there are several markers of her ability, but most importantly she is able to swim from one side of the pool to the other successfully at this point), and I find this to be a clean, organized location nestled inside of Francis Scott Key Mall. Her instructor during her most recent session was involved, kept it interested and was pleasant and playful to her and the other children in her group. I am very satisfied with KIDS FIRST in general, and this location as well. read more

After two years, and 8 hours of individual instruction my 9-10 year old still cannot swim we cannot do very much of anything. Instead of learning three or four basic swim (ie crawl, backstroke or breast stroke) spent a lot of time learning how to get out of the pool without using the stairs and other things that did not improve or make possible true swimming. A big waste of a lot of money and time. Would not even give a full star. read more

Both of my kids love taking lessons here. We find it great during the colder months to keep my kids active. The staff is very friendly and accommodating. We hopefully plan to use their birthday party service in the near future! read more

If I could do 0 stars I would. I have heard a few negative comments around my community on this business but decided to join anyway as trusty them. Awful management!!!! Called in June to sign my son up for swimming class & was told the dates of August 30th - October 11th. The young lady told us different dates over the phone than what she actually signed us up for. The dates we were signed up for would not work since we were out of town for 3/6, so it wouldn't make since you sign up for those dates & waste money. When we realized we were told incorrect dates, I called their office & they ONLY offered me a "family day" to where we come into the pool as a family & swim ourselves. Sharon the manager mentioned the employee would never make a mistake because she "knows her"....but at the end of the conversation once I asking questions she changed to "I was not there for the conversation". I was not looking for a full refund only different dates (at least) but the ONLY thing offered was to where I bring my son in myself & teach him MYSELF on how to swim....with a two hour time limit....that is what my $125 is worth to them. I understand that mistakes are made but they should be corrected in a correct manner. I mentioned to Sharon I would leave a giggle review & she laughed. Hopefully other parents see this too & choose a different establishment. It is hard times & $125 is not something we have to just throw away. read more

We have had several good sessions at this location. Some instructors are better than others. We signed up for the current session that started on Monday. They called my husband Monday evening and told him they had canceled the class we had signed up for and we would have to pick a different class. I went in there yesterday to change my daughter's class. When I arrived the lady at the counter was on the phone. I waited and when she was finished she asked, "what can I do for you." I began to tell her that they canceled the class we were in and she interrupted me to give me an explanation as to why. When she was finished she just stared at me and I told her I understood and we needed to put my daughter in a different class. She then explained again that we needed to put my daughter in a different class because the one we had signed up for was canceled. I said, "Yes, that is why we are here." And then she asked me why I was getting an attitude. I told her I now wanted my money back and to speak to the manager. She stated that she was the manager. I requested information to contact her boss and her name. She stated, "my name is irrelevant because I am not giving you the information to contact my boss." I informed her that I wanted to complain about her and how she had responded to me. She would not let me look at the schedule for the class times so that I could reschedule my daughter and she would not give me the information I needed to complain to her boss. I again requested my money back and she responded by pointing to a "no refund" policy sign. I stated that you can't honor a no refund policy when the facility is the one that canceled the class. She said the only thing they could do was give us a credit to be used in future sessions. I again asked for her boss's information and she again stated that she was not going to give it to me. Her contrary and condescending actions did nothing but cause the situation to escalate. This was not a difficult task. All she had to do was let me see the schedule and pick a new class time for my daughter. How can someone with such poor customer service be the manager of this facility? Since she would not provide me with her boss's information, I felt the need to put up this public review. This one extremely poor experience has me looking into other options for swim classes for my daughter as I do not feel comfortable supporting a business that allows their manager to treat customers in such a way with no repercussions. read more

Meh- my 4 year old child is in her 3rd session. She had the same teacher her first 2 sessions and he was great!!! Then, I enrolled her in the next level. I guess she's a pretty decent swimmer for her age bc the other kids were 1-2 years older than her. This level is apparently done in the middle of the pool. My daughter could barely touch!!!! Hello??? How can you not see this???? This was the first time she cried in the pool-ever!! She swallowed so much water. She was crying so badly I went in ( yeah, I ignored the sign- my freaking kid is crying and choking). The teacher just stared at her. (After this class, I switched her back to a lower level. ) After class she was crying again and said,"Mommy I swallowed a lot of water and the teacher didn't even help me. He didn't even pat my back." ( her last teacher did). Ok and now this new teacher? Good? No, not so much. Yawning all the time, acting as if he couldn't care less about being there. Barely helping the kids. If you are going to teach KIDS to swim, please CARE about kids!!! You need patience, a kind personality! BIG con- the bathrooms. Yuck!!! Filthy! Bugs. Clumps of hair, holes in the wall. I mean, c'mon, does anyone ever clean in here? Front desk....not too helpful. We will NOT be returning here. FYI, I don't write many negative reviews. It has to be pretty bad. So....yeah, this place is bad. read more

Overall this location is an okay place to work. Problems starting occurring within a few months on the job. At first glance everything seems to be running pretty well but after a while you start to see problems. The management is incompetent, the facility is cheap, the pool water is filthy (we have had numerous complaints of people having skin irritation) The positives of the job are that it is a relaxed environment, considering the fact that your work uniform is a bathing suit, the water is heated to 90 degrees and it pays well. However, as a swim instructor you are in the pool for hours with no breaks. As a front desk associate you are essentially on the front lines of numerous customer complaints. The amount of complaints we get are amazing. I understand that you cannot please everyone, however, these complaints were definitely warranted. The facility is simply run poorly and parents can see that. Other positives of the job is that Kids First does have a great curriculum; kids really do learn to swim in a way that is fun and they also learn important life saving and safety skills. But other than that there is nothing positive about the company or location. It's a shame that the company is run the way it is because I really do believe that it can be a great place to take your kids! In all I would not recommend working at Kids First Swim school, it's not worth it. As for swim lessons I would recommend the facility but I would warn that you will run into numerous problems for the duration of being enrolled in the school ( things like, customer service, inconsistency of instructors, never being able to get a hold of the manager if you have a problem to report, being told that you cannot contact corporate,disorganization and toxic pool water). But if you can look past those problems that will occur, it's a good place to learn how to swim for all ages. read more

I have to say, the customer service at this location in Frederick is terrible! Actually, 1 star is too much. I will never sign up again.